Tales of the TMNT
by Party-Shoes16
Summary: From the first original TMNT comics, comes an exciting story about New York and worm people that is told from Don's point of view.
1. Chapter 1

**Tales****of****the****TMNT**

: I don't own any of the rights to TMNT:

Donatello 1st person narration

Charles Darwin's final book was entitled _The__Vegetable__Mould__through__the__Action__of__Warms_, A best-seller when it came out in 1881. It was one of the first books to show the physical influence a biological organism had on its environment, and proved how something so small and seemingly inconsequential could affect the world in a big way. Earth warms break up and mix plant debris with soil, enriching it and churning it upwards like blenders; billions of blenders. Darwin was obsessed with worms, and he spent the last years of his old age researching their activity in relation to the burial and preservation of archaeological ruins.

My name is Donatello; and, yeah, these are the sort of things that I like to think about. It's the way I am. It's the way I've always been. Let me tell you a story…

**NOT FORGOTTEN**

Although I was aware that it was the centennial of the publication of Darwin's book on worms, I didn't give it much thought at the time. I was twelve years old and obsessed with my own interest; the history of New York, for the island latter to be named Manhattan was wild and relatively untouched.

Wolves and cougars were the predominant species at the time while eagles, ospreys and various hawks ruled its skies. Native inhabitants densely populated its wilderness; hunting, fishing, walking its shores, harvesting shellfish, living alternately in peace and at war with their neighbors.

In April 1524, an European ship, The Dauphine, sailed into what is now New York Harbor seeking to find a passage to the Orient. The Dauphine was a French ship of discovery captained by an Italian explorer, Giovanni Da Verrazano, a once famous corsair who became the first European to both sight New York and meet its native inhabitants.

In Verrazano's own words, excerpted from a letter to Francis I, King of France:

"In their little boats made out of a single tree..."

"In their little boats on the sea…" Michelangelo sang out.

My three brothers laughed.

We had come upon an old copy of the cartoon animated film _Cats__Don__'__t__Dance_ while scavenging the sewers for supplies last week, and had instantly become one of Michelangelo's favorites. I wasn't sure if my baby turtle brother was imitating the song from the movie or making fun of me.

"Guys, can I go on?" I whined.

Master then cleared his throat. "Please continue my son," he prompted. "Your brothers have much they can learn from your self teachings and knowledge." A stern look from their master immediately brought silence back into the room, and Donatello started to read again from the heavy book he held in his lap.

"In their little boats made out of a single tree, they crossed to greet us joyfully. The people uttering loud cries of wonderment were dressed in bird's feathers of various color.

"Suddenly a violent wind blew from the sea and we were forced to return to the ship, but not before we tried to take a boy and a young woman with us. The woman was very beautiful and tall, but it was impossible to take her to the sea because of the loud cries she uttered. We decided to leave her behind and took only the boy. We then sailed away towards the East."

"Sounds like a real nice guy," Raphael cracked sarcastically.

"Yes, but women and other civilizations were veered much differently during those times then they are today," Leo reminded him.

"Except for Mikey," Raph started up again, "he'll always be veered differently."

"I can't help it if I'm the cutest turtle here," Mikey batted his long eye lashes back it his red clad brother.

"You mean the ugliest," Raph corrected.

"Raphael! Michelangelo! Enough!" Master Splinter spoke sharply.

All fell silent then. We know that we have been warned when our sensei speaks that harshly with us. I looked down at my book and started to read once more.

"Two years later in 1526, a second European ship discovered New York. This one flew the flag of King Charles of Spain and was sailed by Esteban Gomez, a Portuguese of African ancestry. Gomez didn't make landfall as it was winter and the harbor clogged with ice floes eighty-three years later.

"In 1609, came _The__Half__Moon_, a ship contracted by the _Dutch__East__India__Company_ looking for a faster all-water route to China and commanded by an Englishman, Henry Hudson. Hudson sailed his small ship up the river which today bears his name, but turned around once he had realized that it was a simple river, rather than an island passageway to the West.

"Hudson made contact with local Indians and was amazed at their abundance of foods, skins and furs, which the Indians were willing to trade for trinkets…"

"I'll trade my pretty dress for this awesome comic book!" Mike yelled acting out his jesters.

"Michelangelo!" The youngest turtle jumped at our sensei's voice that was full of much disappointment. "You will listen to your lesson," Master Splinter commanded.

"Hudson claimed the land for the Dutch, opening the way for the settlers who followed, but it was the prospect of a highly profitable fur trade that prompted the company's businessmen to return to this new land."

""…which they called New Netherland and to form their first settlement, New Amsterdam," Leo finished.

"Right," I praised him.

"…which is today's New York," he said.

It made me really happy that Leo was getting into this a little. I mean, I'm the smart turtle. A while back, Leo asked me for help in our daily lessons, and in return he spent extra time in our dojo training me. Now it seemed as if all our hard work had paid off, for Leo that is. My ninja skills were still the poorest of all four turtles.

"Well done Leonardo," Master Splinter praised.

"Cool," Mikey claimed as he flopped back on the couch.

"Boring," said Raphael with a yawn.

Master Splinter sighed deeply. "Indeed Michelangelo. Thank you Donatello for sharing that with us," said Master splinter.

"Thank you Sensei. I'm psyched! This is the best book I've ever read. I can't believe someone had thrown it away into the sewers." I said.

"…and it's wicked old too," Mikey chimed in again. He just wouldn't stop. "Wouldn't it be cool to be an explorer, Don?" my baby brother asked me. "Think about it. Discovering new places, being in a ship, or even in a space ship!" he exclaimed.

"That's an interesting thought," I said. I was glad that Mikey was getting at least something out of this. "_The__Half__Moon_ is sort of the Apollo 11 of its time…"

"Explore this!" Raph yelled as he threw a sigh at the book, or me, I was never really sure which one he was aiming to hit.

"Hey!" I yelped as his sigh knocked the book away, and it clattered to the floor.

As it fell, we all noticed something come loose. It looked like a piece of paper that was worn by years of age.

"What's this?" Leo asked as he picked up the unidentified artifact.

AN: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

As Leonardo studied what he had discovered, Master Splinter intervened by taking the tattered book away.

"No cookies and milk for you tonight, Raphael," h reprimanded his son as he went off to meditate.

Leo motioned all of us over to him. "A map!" Mikey cried as he looked over our brother's shoulder.

"I didn't even know that was in there," I said sheepishly.

"Dinosaur tracks! Cool." Mikey could barley contain himself. " Looks sort of old, wicked old."

"It's a map of the sewers," Leo stated. "It shows the spring here… under the city," he pointed on the map. Leonardo looked hard at the map once more. "Most of the map is familiar, but some of it isn't. This part right here for instance."

We all followed our eldest brothers green finger with our eyes as it moved from one spot on the map to another.

I could only imagine the many possibilities of what we could find with this old map. Maybe we could discover a hidden passageway that was a short cut from one end of Manhattan to the other side, or discover a secret buried treasure that had been lost for years. My overactive curiosity was running away with me now.

"We should go exploring," I blurted out.

"I am unsure of the wisdom of this, Donatello," Master Splinter interjected. "The map is quite old. Things change. The map may no longer be accurate." Our sensei looked at the map Leo handed over to him. "No, I think not," he finally said after a few moments.

"But Master, we could use a modern map as well. We could compare the two as we go…" my voice trailed off as Master Splinter held up his hand for silence, but that never stopped Michelangelo.

"Aw, you never let us go anywhere, Master!" Mikey whined.

"What about the spring, Master?" Leo asked.

"You know we need a good source of water. This is pragmatic. It makes sense to go," I was now pleading.

"And we want to go alone, Master. We never get to go anywhere alone," Raphael spoke up from behind me. "I think we're old enough to handle ourselves. We're not babies anymore," he said.

Master Splinter sighed deeply as he thought this over. His sons were older now, this was true, but on the other hand we had always been magnets for loads of trouble.

"You certainly are no longer babies, Raphael," Master Splinter finally said. "Very well than."

"Yeah!" we all cheered and high fived.

I remember it taking us several hours to pack. "I'll make sure we're careful, Master," Leonardo promised as he bowed, while Master Splinter did his best to appear upbeat and supportive. It must have been hard on him. It was the first night we would spend away from him.

Before we left, I plotted a course using the old map so that it would be easier for us to move through the parts of the sewers that we trekked through less often.

"Turn right up ahead, and go straight for a hundred yards," I informed them while Mike compared the route to a new map of the sewers.

"No prob." He had assured me.

For once in our lives, Raph and Leo took up the rear, with Leo trying to move as silently as possible; Raph splashing about trying to annoy Leo.

"Another right," Mikey said.

"Um, sure," I agreed. The truth was that I wasn't sure at all. I started to rethink making Mikey my co-navigator. Did he really know where he was going, or even how to use a map?

For the first part of our journey, I remember wondering whether or not Master Splinter had followed us. I kept glancing around, behind me, and out of the corner of my eyes. I imagined he would have, for a while at least, making sure we were all right. Poor Master Splinter.

We passed all the usual tunnels, the networks of pipes and columns that provided the city with steam, gas, electricity and water, drained its flood waters and sewage, the web of telephone and cable lines, and the subways.

"Are we there yet?" Mikey asked in complaint.

"Hmmm. That's strange," I said. There's a dead end. Mike, there a dead end on your map too?" I asked. I really didn't think there was, but I wanted to make sure.

"Um, er, no?" he sounded unsure of himself.

Raph tore the map away from Mikey, and looked at it. "There probably would be if you looked at the map right-side-up!" Raphael growled at Michelangelo. '''You dope!"

"Give me that! I'm taking charge of the new map!" Leo snapped. He rarely acted with such harshness, but he was exhausted after battling the flue last week before trudging through the dank sewers with the rest of us today.

"Frankly, I was still surprised that it had taken Leo that long to work his way into his usual position of control, although I was glad that he now had as Raph and Mikey started up a game of who could through the most sewer sludge.


	3. Chapter 3

As my brothers and I continued on our journey we came upon an older part of the sewers. Leo told us that it was part of the original sewer system built in New York.

Over the next few hours, each step carried us further back in time. We discovered a chamber filled with old subway cars, like an elephant graveyard.

"We should tag 'em!" Mike laughed at his own joke which none of us ever get.

We then proceeded to climb down granite slabs that had once formed the walls of one of the city's old aqueducts.

"Aqueduct, my friend, don't you start away uneasy…" Mikey rapped to an upbeat rhythm of music that existed only in his own head as the four of us walked on.

"A secret passageway," I gasped putting an end to my brother's musical styling.

We had wondered our way through a special passageway that wasn't noted on either map. We all wondered about it. Maybe it was a part of the Underground Railroad; maybe people had helped ex-slaves find their way to freedom through here, or maybe this was part of some bootlegging operation during prohibition and eventually arrived at what remained of the ruins of the island's original Dutch settlement.

"New Amsterdam," Leo announced our location. We decided to camp there for the night. We were all bushed.

After we had all settled down for the evening, Leo asked me to read some more from the book. Just because we were on our first adventure ever without our Sensei, didn't mean we could slack off on our lessons.

"…while the fate of these early explorers left much to be desired," I read aloud. "Henry Hudson, for example, later attempted a Polar passage exploration, this time working for the English. Failing time and again, and encountering worsening weather and rapidly diminishing food supplies, Hudson's crew mutinied, and placed Hudson and his young son in a small boat and set them adrift near Newfoundland never to be seen again."

"That's harsh, Dude," Mikey voiced his opinion about what I had just read.

"Verrazano, on the other hand, after making landfall on a Caribbean Island met with an even more gruesome fate as dinner for the island's cannibalistic natives. One account claims that he was roasted a…"

"Hey! I'm trying to eat here," Mikey interrupted with his whinny voice.

"Geez, Don! Anyone want the rest of my beef jerky?" Raph asked.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly. I read silently through the rest of the page until I found where I could safely begin again without grossing everyone out.

"The natives, in turn, were slaughtered to extinction by subsequent waves of European settlers." I closed the book and set it down on the floor in front of me. "How very Darwinian," I exclaimed.

"How very Geekian," Mikey whispered to Raph who was thinking about it, although he didn't say anything; and never has.

The campfire was ding down now. I watched as Raphael picked up an arrowhead from out of the gravel near our campfire in one of those moments of weird serendipity whose operating equation or underlying principal has yet to be discovered.

AN: Sorry about the short chapter. I just wanted to get this up tonight. Thanks to D' Fuentes for the reviews.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next day we came to the dinosaur tracks, exactly where the map indicated they'd be.

"How cool is this?" I exclaimed as we followed the tracks. I had always loved dinosaurs. "There are three distinct types of tracks. Anyone know what species they are?" I asked.

"I do," Mikey spoke up of course. "Big ones. Dead ones. Big dead ones," he joked. Mikey paused as he thought a moment. "At least I hope they're dead," he finally said.

Leonardo had been studding the maps of the old and modern sewers. "I think I can save us some time, might be a way to take a short cut here…"

"Where?" I asked quickly glancing over his shoulder at the map.

"Here," Leo pointed to a small section.

We had reached the opening of a large cave, and so we entered. "Don't look natural," Mikey said. He was right. I was getting the same eerie feeling.

"I agree," I said. "The walls look carved; the edges curve around but are still sharp, not soft and smooth like you'd get with water erosion. It looks excavated."

"Excavated?" questioned Raphael. "but… but by what? Dinosaurs?"

"Year Mom," Mikey laughed.

"Don't spook yourself Mikey," Leo scolded. He sometimes wondered about his youngest brother. We all did. Apparently Mikey failed to understand that Raph's mom was his mom too; and mine and Leo's. What did he think brother's meant?

We all stopped short within the next few moments as we came upon the sight before us. It was magnificent. A huge, towering architectural structure that looked like it was made of solid gold.

"Um, now can I spook myself?" Mikey asked.

What in the world was something like this doing down in the grungy sewers of New York? I marveled at its wonder as I expressed my thoughts aloud. "Could it truly be? Is this… the lost city of gold?"

"Wow!"

"I assume this place ain't on the map," Raph said with a sarcastic tone. "Nice shortcut."

"Ah…no," I answered.

As we came closer the ancient fortress-like structure, I realized the building, if you could really call it that, was not made of gold at all. My first impression had in fact been completely incorrect. I needed a closer look. My curiosity was peek. I was ready to explore.

What strange architecture… classic columns and arches but no distinctive or at least recognizable style. These might be the ruins of an as-yet undiscovered past empire.. one that may have exited in North America before the Olmec of Latin America.

"Or else some hokey movie set," said Mikey wondering for all his might why I always found stuff like this so fascinating.

"…and look at the precision," I continued. "I bet this city was carved directly out of the surrounding rock! What could they have used for tools?"

Anyone who knew could tell that I was very fascinated.

"He's geeking out again," Mikey informed our other two brothers.

"The spring?" Leo asked me while he ignored Mikey's comment.

"I'd say so. It corresponds to where it's indicated on the map. Your shortcut worked after all, Leo," I said.

We all ran for the spring. After being drenched in sweat and exhausted from our walk through the sewers, a swim felt really good about now.

"Last one in's a rotten egg!" Mikey yelled.

"Coming in, Don?" Raph asked me as he started to run after Mikey.

"Yeah, in a little while," I answered. "I just want to run some PH tests and do an analysis of the spring, check on protozoa and bacteria; see if it'll be a good source of drinking water…"

"In English that means…?" Raph said.

Even then I was such a ubergeek with my homemade chemistry set that I used to carry around in an old cigar box

"…just wanna see what's in it," I finished.

"Hey there's fishes in here; little white fishes," Mikey announced as all four of us turtles swam through the spring's waters.

I think back o the fun I used to miss out on…

My brothers discovered that the spring held more advanced forms of life than the simple ones I was testing for; several types of blind albino fish, an albino crab, all probability previously unknown to science.

"Hey, check this out. Looks sort of like a lobster trap," Leo said as he pulled on the heavy metal chains to lift the trap out.

"What the fudge?" said Mike. "This isn't a lobster, it a turtle!"

"Now who the shell would be trapping blind albino turtles in this forgotten whacked-out place," Raph said.

"Um, I think I can hazard a guess," I said in a squeaky voice as a small army of strange looking creatures approached us.

"Ut-oh," Mikey voiced all our thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I don't like the looks of these jokers," Raph said as the creatures continued to approach us, very slowly, like the zombies in Mikey's video games.

"Neither do I." Shockingly, Leo agreed. I shouldn't really say it that way because on occasion, Leo and Raph could actually put forth a team work effort instead of arguing about everything. It just rarely happened.

"Weapons at the ready, brothers," Leo commanded.

"I think I'm getting the subterranean homesick blue," Mikey answered as he cowered a little behind Raphael as he usually did.

Genius that I am, I decided to continue my lab tests instead of helping my brothers. Leo can get pretty upset with me when I do this, but I can't help it tat I'm such a Science geek.

"Leo? I think I'm going to sit this one out for a while, finish up with these tests first. I think I'm onto something," I told him. I always think I'm on to something.

The death glare that I received from my brother in return of my backing out came across loud and clear. He would get me later in the dojo, and make me pay. I groaned a little at the thought.

As the creatures to come closer, they seemed to form in shape. They seem to have a human head with two slivery arms. They had elfish ears and four clawed fingers on each hand. The rest of their body sort of resembled that of a…

"Gross! We got worms!" yelled Mikey.

"Worms?" Raph repeated.

"That trap I found…these guys…well, they eat turtles."

"Maybe they want to eat us," Mikey voiced his own opinion as his green hands clutched his chucks.

"Like those cannibals ate Verrazano?" Raph growled as he lunged at the worm creatures. "Ain't gonna happen!"

Worms. Darwin. Evolution.

"Hey, leggo!" screamed Mikey as one of the worm creatures attacked him. "Gee, who said these dudes looked sickly?" he shot at me.

Survival of the fittest. The struggle for existence. The history of life on Earth is the struggle for existence in the midst of scarce resources and a changing environment.

I was thinking all about it as I continued my testing while my brothers fought, and I looked up only briefly to see one of my brothers get dragged under the mucky water by another worm creature. I wondered in that moment if worms could survive in water like us turtles.

"#%!" I suddenly hear Leo yell. For a moment I was stunned, and almost dropped my test tubes I was using. Leo almost never said words like those that had come out of his mouth just then.

"Ha ha, potty moth. I'm telling Master Splinter," Mikey sang out as he dodged a think worm tail.

I couldn't help myself from smiling so big. Mikey had always loved to try to get his big brother in trouble. He liked to prank and cause trouble for all of us, but Leo seemed to be his favorite. I think it sparked Mikey's attention because Leo was always such a good turtle.

"Aargh!" I heard Leo grunt as he took a hit from one of the worm creatures. I could see now that he was upside down being held by several of the creatures. "Ok, that does it! I'm serious; no more fooling around!"

The subtext of history is the struggle for existence, not that I knew that then.

"Gonna join the party sometime, Donnie?" Raph growled.

"I'm busy," I answered. "If you need me, tell me." I stopped short and looked around, panic rose in my chest. "Hey, where's…"

"Michelangelo?" the three of us all screamed together as we saw our baby brother being dragged away.

We watched him struggle with the worm creature until they both disappeared beneath the mucky sewer waters. Then there were a few bubbles that appeared at the surface and started to move.

"Ah, that must be him," I thought out loud.

"Ha!" We all heard as both Mikey and the worm creature came up from the waters. Mikey had one of his chucks wrapped around the creature's arms, and appeared to be on the winning side, at least for the time being.

Water was splashing everywhere as my brothers fight, and I continued my experimental testing.

"Crap, Mikey!" I suddenly yelled at my orange wearing brother as all my equipment was drenched in filth from the sewer water. "Your splashing just ruined this analysis! You don't understand, this is important, I think I… Ah, forge it." I hoped it wouldn't contaminate my testing, or alter my finings to terriblt bad.

"Take a suck pill, bro. I got some deworming to do," Mikey yelled back at me.

"Worms!" I heard Raph exclaim in bitterness next. "These guys came on strong, but they ain't much on stamina."

Yeah, and I think I know why," I said. My test results were almost complete, and I was impatient.

Leo got me for getting impatient, and rushing my katas last week, but this time was different. I was eager to find out if my hypotheses was correct. The mixture started to bubble, an then…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Suddenly I thought I had my answer. "I think I found it!" I cried.

"Found what?" Mikey called as the sound of his chucks clashing with the flesh of the worm creatures rang through the sewers. The acoustics in this old part of the sewers was magnificent.

"I think you're right, Raph," I heard Leo say. "We definitely have them on the ropes. We just have to turn up the heat a bit."

"One can of whup-ass coming up!" Mikey yelled

"Guys, I have the answer," I called as they continued to fight while ignoring me. Then I saw the chemical in the test tub start to bubble and change again. I was perplexed, but for only a moment. I looked at what I had.

I then remembered that scarce resources, a changing environment…

CHANGE! That's it! I've got it! The water's changed!

"Bros, listen to me; there's a reason these guys look sickly, the water's changed." I stopped. No one was listening to me still. "Hey, Isn't anyone listening to me?" I shouted. "HEY! STOP THE #%/ FIGHTING!" I screamed.

The fighting immediately stopped. Everyone was now frozen in place, staring at me.

"Hugh? Why?" Raph asked.

"The water, it's the water," I tried to explain. "It has wicked high levels of lead and cadmium. Poisonous levels."

Everyone stared at me blankly. "The water's slowly killing them. Well," I looked at the sight in front of me, "maybe not so slowly. Put your weapons away. I think me can help them."

I then breathed a heavy sigh. "You worn guys probably don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?" I asked. I thought a moment. How was I going to make them understand? Then I came to me. "But hopefully you can understand the tone f my voice, and my actions," I said the them.

"Here, these are water filters." I presented the filters to the closest worm guys, and went on to demonstrate it's use. "You have to draw the water through these before you can drink it. See? Like this, through the filter and then you can drink it. Simple."

Simple, so simple, too simple. What was I thinking? The naiveté of youth.

"Gee, Donnie, you really think they're gonna use those things? You're sure they're not just gonna play with them?" Raph pointed out.

"Yeah, they'll be fine," I assured them. "We can come check on them in a couple of months."

Of course, we never did. We just walked away. Somehow, over the course of time, the maps were lost. I sometimes think about what we would have found if w had gone back, or if we ever did, would the worm guys still be there, sickly? That they had survived, that their health had improved, or would it have worsened.

After all, for all that I knew, their physiology may have required leas and cadmium as nutrients. Maybe their water source had never changed. Maybe it had, but they hadn't changed with it. Maybe their time was up. Maybe it's just beginning. Dusk, dawn, which follows which?

Geek or not, I was only twelve years old at the time. What could I have possibly have known then? Just this: things change, and we have to change with them.

THE END

AN: Thanks for reading. I hoped you enjoyed it. Please leave a review.


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